Former Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Shaun Norris reflects on his incredible act of sportsmanship during the 2025 tournament and his playoff with Jayden Schaper. Schaper hit a miraculous shot from the fairway bunker onto the green and holed the putt for eagle to win his first DP World Tour title. It was a shot that Norris applauded from the other side of the fairway, and an act which earned him the Sunshine Tour Sportsman of the Year award at their season-ending awards function
Question: Shaun, tell us about that final round and what it meant to come so close to defending your title?
Shaun: You know, I was nowhere near the leaders starting that final round. But I came out of the blocks making putts, and I was just making birdies and eagles. To win the Alfred Dunhill Championship in 2024 was an absolute blessing in my career. But to then put myself in that position to almost defend it was even bigger. I couldn’t have been more grateful for the opportunity.
Question: You didn’t defend, but you created one of the moments of the season when you applauded the shot Jayden hit to eventually win? What brought that out of you in that moment?
Shaun: Basically, I did exactly what I could do in that playoff. I hit the perfect tee shot. I hit the middle of the green with my second. We all strive to win tournaments, and here was a youngster with all the talent in the world who had a wonderful year leading up to that event. It’s hard to win, so for him in that position, to pull off a shot like that, I just felt it deserved applause. I was amazed by the shot, so I just felt like congratulating him for even pulling it off, and then making the putt on top of it. He did everything correctly and he pulled it off, so for me it was just a case of knowing what it feels like to go through that and to try and win a tournament, which is not easy. I was very happy for him to pull that off.
Question: Did you ever have a moment like that in your own career, where another player supported you in a moment like you did for Jayden?
Shaun: I did. In 2010 we played a Sunshine Tour event at Stellenbosch Golf Club. I played in the final round with Jean Hugo. It’s his home course and we were going head-to-head all the way. We were a bunch of shots ahead of third place, so it was really just between the two of us. But the way he treated it and the words he spoke to me were just so uplifting. He beat me that day, but he just kept saying to me, “You’ve got the game. Just keep plugging away and eventually your stars are going to align”. It meant so much to me then.
